Dortmund wins to create more trouble for St Pauli
Borussia Dortmund made it back-to-back Bundesliga wins for the first time this season, with goals from Karim Adeyemi and Serhou Guirassy securing a 2-0 win over struggling St Pauli at Millerntor-Stadion.
Niko Kovac's side netted twice in the space of seven second-half minutes to secure back-to-back wins in the league for the first time this season.
Dortmund's opponent had lost its past three matches, failing to score during that run, but held firm during the first half.
However, the visitors did hit the front within six minutes of the restart, with Adeyemi providing the pass for Guirassy to tap in his 24th goal of the season across all competitions.
Adeyemi doubled the lead with a fine individual effort seven minutes later. Picking up the ball just inside the hosts' half, the winger outmuscled Philipp Treu and cut inside Eric Smith, before sweeping the ball past Nikola Vasilj.
After seeing out the win, Dortmund remains 10th in the Bundesliga, but within three points of sixth-place Leipzig, while St Pauli stays 15th and just six points clear of the bottom two.
Pauli is without a goal in 473 minutes of football now, having failed to score in four successive Bundesliga matches for the first time since 2004-2005.
Kovac revealed a half-time tactical switch was the key to his side's success.
"We are very satisfied with the result. In the first half we got exactly what we expected, St. Pauli plays very aggressively, very straightforward," Kovac said.
"We had some difficulties in the first half of the game because St. Pauli attacked us with three men. We didn't find the right solution there."
Kovac decided to alter his side's approach after the break, and Guirassy's goal five minutes into the second half paved the way for its win.
"We switched from a three-man to a four-man defence in the second half in our build-up play," Kovac said.
"We brought our wingers into the game much better. This allowed us to play over St. Pauli's first line of defence and then we had control of the game in our hands.
"What was important then, of course, was the first goal. Who scores the first goal today is on the winning path. We told the boys that."
Dortmund's two consecutive wins have come after two successive losses, and for defender Nico Schlotterbeck, surviving until the break without conceding a goal was vital.
"It was important to go into half-time with a 0-0 draw. There have been games where you're behind, and then it gets difficult," Schlotterbeck said.
"After that, we played a controlled game and deserved to win. We are more compact, we are more united, we don't allow so much.
"It has to be Borussia Dortmund's ambition to keep a lot of clean sheets."
